Uvula

Hello all!

I had my surgery this past Wednesday and everything went well with one exception. My uvula is swollen and about an inch longer than normal .

When I asked my doctor he said it was a side effect of the intubation but otherwise didn't seem too concerned about it and advised me to keep eating ice chips and drinking plenty of water which I have been doing.

Did anyone else have any issues with this and if so what did you do? If it wasn't for this issue I could be more satisfied with how the whole process has gone this far .

I think some people are rough when they intubate. Not with my gastric sleeve but with other surgeries I've noticed my throat felt raw, scratched up, and painful, after surgery. Never really looked at it though. It should go away soon.

It seems to happen randomly to me whenever I've had intubation. I think you're probably doing the best thing for it with the ice chips and water.

Uvulas are weird things though and a whole inch is a lot considering it's placement. Probably you should keep an eye on it and not hesitate to bring it up again if it's not showing any improvement soon.

My brother just had to have his removed (he has not had WLS) because it has always slightly blocked his airway back there. He's doing just fine without one so try not to worry over it too much. It will either heal or they can fix it.

When they intubate, they don't just insert the tube. They use a tool called a laryngoscope to make sure they do not put the tube down towards the stomach. Intubation is technically a kind of endoscopy. It may be harder to see though when we are obese, or someone may have less experience, so soft tissue might get bruised.

Even if someone skilled does it, this is almost always hard on the throat, because the esophageal tissue can be fragile and sensitive. In my case, I almost always have a sore throat after...I actually use an ice pack in a towel for a few minutes every hour which seems to help.

Thanks everyone. The uvula swelling has improved significantly.